2 x 2 Good news

Today was a good day. Started out a bit rough with David this morning and a little bit of a stressful am, but for both Kel and I - 2 bits of good news.

For Kel:

1. We knew that his tumor biomarkers had decreased from a phone call we received, but we didn't get the #'s. There are 3 'things' monitored by bloodwork for testicular cancer - AFP, bHCG and LDH. All 3 of these were high for Kel, but the AFP was the highest at 13,700 (7-ish is the highest 'normal' defined). We heard today that his first cycle of chemo this # went down by 85%!!

85%?! That is awesome! And that was only cycle 1. He had blood drawn again today and should know those results next week to see how much more they went down.

2. The doc actually put a # on the chance for needing surgery at 20%. It is a little higher than normal due to the size of the tumor in his back when this all started, but probably because of the tumor marker progress, it isn't too much higher. We also heard that the CT scan and decision should be about a month after the last chemo week, so mid-April.

Ok, going to add a 3rd 'good' for Kel - he handled today's chemo well. This time last cycle was his worst day, and today after he was done we went out to lunch (salads), I brought him home and he slept a little, and we were even able to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate the more 'good' (below). He is really tired, but that is also due to a lack of sleeping at night still (he was up at 3:30am, just cause ...). He is out cold again tonight.

One more good to add for him (and yes, Dad, at this point you can make fun of my math) is that his lack of tasting any food should be fully reversible!

My good's:

1. I was at my lowest weight yet - down 27 lbs overall! Still about 9 lbs to go for St. Patty's day, and I didn't do well today with Thai food dinner (my fave food), but I can make it!

And the best part ...

2. I was offered that job I was waiting for! They met today, voted, and unanimously wanted me! WOOHOOO!!! So excited - this is an assistant professorship, my own lab, more teaching at their College of Pharmacy - a great position for me. A few things to figure out for sure before we take it, but SO,SO, SO excited! I was a ball of anxiousness today waiting to hear too - my phone was constantly getting checked, but I didn't get the call until about 5pm.

To be sad now: I really wanted to call my mom and tell her about it as soon as I got the call, and it stung a bit that I couldn't. This is a major milestone for me, and something I've been striving for and working for some time. I am thrilled, and it made me miss mom. :( Just another of those 'firsts' that will be hard without her, I think.

Back to happy: Thai food is AWESOME! Great celebratory dinner, and they are so good with David at that restaurant (amused by the caucasian parents and then asian son, I think).

I have a ton of grading to do, since all of my classes just went through their exam cycle 1, so onto the sux/doesn't suck portion.

The doesn't suck is hard, because overall it was a great day. Kel's markers are dropping more rapidly than we knew, indicating the therapy is going very well. The job offer is great for me. a 20% chance of surgery is good odds for not needing it, and I am thrilled with 27 lbs!

The sux: Had a rough morning with David this am, probably more due to stress on my end. I go through this sometimes - get overly stressed and overloaded with work and life, and have to hit bottom before it picks up. My list of 'to do's' is too long to keep track of, and include needing to do laundry, dishes, clean the guest room for my mother-in-law's upcoming visit, write papers, schedule meetings, decide on a job (great thing, of course), run lab, teach, grade, etc... oh, and be a mom and a wife too (that is the easy part). David wasn't great at school today, had a 'Hiyah' incident with his teacher where he pretended to do a karate move on her and punched her, and apparently poked another kid in the eye? Don't know how to teach an almost 4-year-old how to understand not to hurt others. Any thoughts? He gets the aftermath threat of: would you want me to punch you there? or poke you in the eye? But he doesn't get that upfront.

Back to grading, Goodnight for the end of a good day!

Tracy